The stereotypes, identified by Rosabeth Moss Kanter, include seductress or sex object, mother, pet, or iron maiden. These terms are leading the women in politics to lose credibility and to be made a joke of. What I think these women should do instead of leaving themselves trail behind just because of their sex, is embrace the stereotype. Stereotypes are not necessarily a good thing, but if a candidate was to possibly embrace the fact that she is a motherly type it may work in her favor. For instance, on the issue of abortion, the candidate may be pro-life and could show how understanding she is to the subject. Instead of being a negative, her maternal side could show the relationship between her and her child and show women the positives of being a mother. The criticism is that the candidate might look weak, but they could turn that view around to show that mothers are extremely strong and prove their strength.
Embracing the idea of being a sex object might not be as easy. But a candidate could twist this view of herself. Instead of being seen as a sex object due to speaking with femininity, she could use how she speaks to show the importance of women's opinions and how much of an impact women would have on politics.
The "pet" idea is just being a mascot in some way. As a candidate you somewhat have to be a mascot, announcing why they should pick you, why you should win the "game"!
As for the iron maiden, it could be the major disadvantage for a female candidate because it loses all the feminine" aspects that a woman has. When thinking of iron maiden I tend to think of the "We Can Do It!" worker morale poster during WW2. On the poster, there is a female busting out her bicep muscles. It was reused to promote feminism in the 1980s. If this poster was such a success for feminism, the compassionate and maternal image of feminism, I think being an iron maiden could very easily be used as an advantage to show how powerful the female candidate can be.
The unfortunate truth of the iron maiden and mother stereotype is the double standard which is difficult to over come. But I think that double standard exists because people are afraid of women who have power and are not just compassionate.
On NBC's Saturday Night Live, they tend to bring up many present political issues and make a joke out of it. In 2008, they of course chose to pick on Hilary Clinton and Sarah Palin. Tina Fey was Sarah Palin and Amy Poehler impersonated Hilary Clinton. During their most famous debate together on the show, they touched upon the key stereotypes and issues the real candidate were facing during the 2008 campaign. Tina Fey addressed the sexism issues of being called pretty and having her face put onto half naked bodies. Amy Poehler asked for people to stop addressing her kankles. Both were examples of the sex object stereotype happening throughout the campaign.
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